Category: In the News

Creating a monster: Olajuwon trying to refine LBJ’s inside game

The rest of the NBA should be very afraid.

The news that LeBron James has turned to postgame guru Hakeem Olajuwon could help refine one of the league’s very best players in an area of his biggest weakness.

Forget about the perimeter game and the passing. If James ever added a consistent inside component, he might fulfill the promise of becoming “The King” for the NBA.

It was almost painful at times to watch James attempt to score against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Give him credit for .

“Right now I’ve just been focusing on being a better player, working on my game every single day,” James told the Associated Press in comments reported by Pro Basketball Talk.com. “Like I said, the Dallas Mavericks were a great team and they deserved to win that championship. And I’ll just use that as motivation coming into this season.”

That has taken him to Houston, where he’s working with the Hall of Famer Olajuwon to bolster his inside play.

Olajuwon practically refined post play during his career, which included an MVP in 1994 and two NBA titles.

“I look at what he was able to do throughout his career,” James said. “Unbelievable talent. Multiple champion. Just to see how he was able to dominate in the low post, for me as an individual, I just try to look at some of the things I feel I need to get better at and hit home at it. Our team becomes better if I continue to get better and that’s what it’s about.”

Finesse added to James’ bullish strength could be a deadly combination.

Consider the rest of the NBA to be duly warned if the work with Olajuwon improves James’ game.

Takes from blog brothers: Manu looks strong in Super 4 Tournament

Manu Ginobili looked in mid-season form over the weekend in his early work for his Argentina national team.

Ginobili erupted for 22 points in 20 minutes of action to help Argentina to a 106-53 victory over Venezuela to win the Super 4 Tournament as the teams prepared for the FIBA Tournament of the Americas later this month.

Jeff Garcia of Project Spurs.com has a few snippets of the .  It’s a typical Ginobili performance as he dives and hustles around the court looking to make plays. In the process he shows little lingering rust from his injury-marred end of the 2011 season.

Chilai of Pounding the Rock.com was at Orfeo Stadium to watch the Argentina team and about the effort by Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto and their teammates. Watch for his “Manu alerts.”

Garcia also has an update from the performance of first-round draft pick Cory Joseph with the Canadian national team. The rookie point guard in  Canada’s 74-67 triumph over Belgium in the Jack Donohoe International Classic.  

Here are some other Spurs-related stories from across the blogosphere.

  • Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell.com wonders if the Spurs might have arranged for Danny Green to play for the Slovenian team Union Olimpija to .
  • ESPN.com’s Andy Katz reflects on Kawhi Leonard’s on the West  Coast for San Diego State.
  • Robby Lim of Spurs World.com provide a on Nov. 5, 2008.   
  • Howard Herman of the Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle reflects on .
  • Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Review has a profile of Pitt wide receiver Cameron Saddler, a 5-foot-7 junior .
  • The Sacramento Bee’s Ailene Voisin believes Vlade Divac belongs in the Naismith Hall of Fame because of the way he like Ginobili.
  • The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn describes into the Hall of Fame.
  • The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tim Sullivan describes how Leonard’s early departure from San Diego State for the school’s Academic Progress Rate score.
  • Gilmore calls Hubie Brown the during his pro career, the Jacksonville Times-Union’s Gene Frenette reports.   
  • In case you missed it, here’s a story that Express-News colleague Heath Hamilton wrote about how athletes of today like Parkerthan those of previous generations.
  • Eric Johnson of the Bleacher Report.com predicts the Spurs – once next season finally begins.

Stern rips players, remains pessimistic after negotiating session

NBA commissioner David Stern didn’t come away with much hope after Monday’s negotiating sessions between players and owners.

Stern didn’t take the high road after the first session, as players union president Derek Fisher did. Instead, the NBA  commissioner blasted his players after telling the Associated Press that “nothing” in a nearly three-hour meeting .

“I don’t feel optimistic about the players’ willingness to engage in a serious way,” Stern said.

It’s no surprise that the players are entrenched on their position. It is still very early in the negotiations and we’re still a long way from missing any games.

The owners want a much larger piece of the “basketball related income” pie, a hard salary cap and shorter contracts that aren’t guaranteed.

The players aren’t willing to budge much on what they have now. It looks like both sides remain are adamant.

Stern told CBS Sports.com that the , which limits any real negotiating in his opinion.     

“I think it’s fair to say that we’re in the same place as we were 30 days ago,” Stern said. “And we agreed we’d be in touch to schedule some additional meetings … But right now, we haven’t seen any movement.”

Spurs majority owner Peter Holt was one of two NBA owners who were present Monday in New York City for the negotiating session. Holt was joined by Minnesota’s Glen Taylor among other NBA owners.

We likely won’t see any more constructive negotiating for the next several weeks. The next milestone will be when the players receive a ruling on their complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in the next 30 to 60 days on whether the owners are negotiating in good faith or not.

If the board agrees with the players, they can go the courts to end the lockout giving them a huge boost in negotiating leverage.

But if not, it should be a long, long wait. 

Don’t look for much in the next several weeks — except for the occasional NBA player signing a contract with an overseas team.